The worst summer foods for children

Hello everyone!

Today's article isn't about what we should feed ourselves, but what we feed kids.  


I found an article that says what the worst foods for kids are and why, and healthier alternatives for each.

1. Hot dogs.  They are very high in sodium and may cause children to dehydrate.  Also, they found that kids who ate 12 hot dogs or more per month were more likely to develop leukemia.  Healthy alternative- Chicken apple sausages. They're lower in fat and have bits of apples in them too. 

2. Pepperoni Pizza (one of my favorites...LOL)

Bad because it is very high in calories and salt.   Healthier alternative is homemade veggie pizza on a whole grain crust.  The kids can even help make it.   Lean hamburger meat is a good way to add extra protein if you'd like.

3. Sport Drinks. These do have the electrolytes but they also have a lot of sugar. Healthy alternative- water.  My personal opinion- if you really think your kids need the electrolytes then try G2 Gatorade which is low calorie and low sugar. 

4. Popsicles. Also loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup.  Have the kids eat frozen fruit or even freeze 100% fruit juice and make homemade popsicles.

5. Ice cream.  For inactive kids (kids usually are more inactive when school is out) and ice cream is high in calories.  A healthy alternative is to freeze peeled bananas, cut them up and run them through a food processor for about 5 minutes until it starts looking like ice cream.

6. Potato chips. LOTS of sodium and fat.  Healthy alternative is corn on the cob- boiled, grilled, otherwise. 

7. Cookies. Obvious why they're not good for you. Also it's easy to overeat them.  Alternative-  bite sized pieces of fruit in the fridge. 

My opinion-  Sometimes these healthy alternatives just aren't practical or convenient. Sure, it would be nice to be able to throw all of those together but some of them do take planning.